Find Help

Search the Resource Directory for therapists, clinics, treatment programs, support groups, and organizations (such as affiliates and global partners) specializing in OCD and Related Disorders in your area.

Search by location:

Enter your zip code OR city, state, OR city, country. You can also use a full address for the most accurate results.

Therapists

Clinics & Programs

Support Groups

Organizations

Learn More About OCD

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders affect more than 1 in 100 people around the world — but there is hope. Learn about treatment, research, and other resources that can help.

Get Involved

Find Help

Learn More About OCD

Get Involved

Search the Resource Directory for therapists, clinics, treatment programs, support groups, and organizations (such as affiliates and global partners) specializing in OCD and Related Disorders in your area.

Search by location:

Enter your zip code OR city, state, OR city, country. You can also use a full address for the most accurate results.

Therapists

Clinics & Programs

Support Groups

Organizations

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders affect more than 1 in 100 people around the world — but there is hope. Learn about treatment, research, and other resources that can help.

Guest Post: Mourning a Friend

Posted September 29, 2014

We are deeply saddened about the loss of a member of the IOCDF community, Riley Sisson, who many of you may have known from the Annual OCD Conference. Riley is remembered by his mother Margaret Sisson, and our heartfelt condolences go out to her and her family. A memorial service was recently near his home in Fayetteville, Georgia, where Riley was remembered by many members of the extended IOCDF and OCD community. One of Riley’s friends, Tim Blue, wrote this blog about his feelings at the loss of his friend, and his desire to channel his energy and grief into a force for good. We asked Tim if we could repost his blog here today, to share with the entire community in the wake of this sad news. – Dr. Jeff Szymanski

Take the Challenge: Do SOMETHING… And Then Keep Doing It

by Tim Blue

In the wake of a tragedy, like the one that took my friend’s 25-year-young life recently, a lot of people ask the question, “What could I have done?!” The profound pain of recent loss incites promises of “never forgetting” or “doing such-and-such in someone’s honor.” Sadly, as time passes and grief’s edges get sanded down a bit to something less jagged, we don’t forget exactly, but we fail to make good on our promise to act.

At Riley’s memorial service, I implored the people to simply “do something!”… Call a lonely friend, give money to a certain charity, join a support group… the list is endless. But I asked them not to stop there, with the internal promise to do something. I suggested that we all have an ever-present memory-jogger these days called the smart phone. As someone who is remarkably forgetful (ask my wife or students, and they’ll happily share examples, probably from within the past hour), I cannot imagine returning to the days before the smart phone calendar and reminders. When something I need to do is called to my attention, I immediately put it in my calendar and set it to remind me, knowing that if I go even a few minutes before doing so, I’ll forget. And in situations like Riley’s OCD, addictions, and untimely death, well, forgetting should not be an option.

So I’m issuing a challenge to anyone who has ever wanted to “do something” but ended up failing to follow through:

Put a reminder in your phone and set it to repeat weekly, monthly (whatever makes most sense) indefinitely… FOREVER.

A few tips to make it easier to follow through:

1. Be realistic. If your reminder is to buy a homeless person a new car every week, that’s probably not going to happen. Make it a reminder to talk to the homeless guy you pass every day on the way to work at least once a week. That’s more realistic.

2. Start small. Pick something you know you can actually accomplish. “Start a non-profit that eventually cures cancer” is a great idea, but if you pick “spend 5 minutes researching the kind of cancer grandma died from,” those 5 minutes once a week might eventually lead to the other, much bigger objective. But even if it doesn’t, by taking the step to educate yourself, you are much more likely to figure out a next step sometime down the road.

3. Make it as personal as possible. If you connect your task to a person you love (or to someone’s memory), you attach a face to the task at hand.

4. Pick something that’s literally close to home. A family member, a neighbor, an organization that’s 10 minutes away…these make follow-through much more realistic.

5. Don’t over-think it; just get started. If you’re like me, you are going to want to turn this into some cosmically important assignment, and you’ll obsess about picking just the right reminder to put in your phone. I was feeling this way, too, before I gave Riley’s eulogy. I felt like I should go ahead and do what I was going to tell others to do before I actually got up to speak. So, I created a reminder for something I had already wanted to do: call Riley’s mom, Margaret, at least once a week. I know that in the aftermath of a loss, people are very good about being supportive at first, but gradually they go back to their own lives. I suppose that by posting this I’m even more “on the hook” with this commitment than I would be if I didn’t make this challenge a public one. But that’s good, and it leads me to the final tip I have…

6. Get someone (or the entire internet/Facebook/Twitter…) to keep you accountable. Tell others what you plan to do, and give them the liberty to hold you to it. So, my friends, you have the liberty to hold me to supporting Margaret long after the immediacy has faded (maybe that should be your reminder: “Remind Tim to check on Margaret”!).

So, I guess I’ll risk feeling somewhat hokey here and make this official…

TAKE THE CHALLENGE: DO SOMETHING… AND THEN KEEP DOING IT FOREVER!

Please feel free to use the comment section of this post to SHARE your commitment/task with me and others.

3 Comments

So wonderfully written! I agree, do something, even as simple as ‘saving the hoot owls’. Give back. Riley is a wonderful inspiration to all of us to begin. Let’s not let his life be in vane. Start now.

Jeff Szymanski, PhD

Jeff Szymanski, PhD, is the Executive Director of the International ...

Find Help

Search the Resource Directory for OCD therapists, clinics, treatment programs, support groups, and affiliates in your area.
Search by location:

Therapists

Clinics & Programs

Support Groups

Affiliates/Global Partners

Join our mailing list to stay informed about our news and events.

Email *

Example: Yes, I would like to receive emails from International OCD Foundation. (You can unsubscribe anytime)

Constant Contact Use.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: International OCD Foundation, PO Box 961029, Boston, MA, 02196, http://www.iocdf.org. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact